UZBEKISTAN'S GOVERNMENT DENIES ALLEGATIONS IT HAS TAXED INCOMING RELIEF MONEY

TASHKENT, MARCH 1 (RIA Novosti's Valery Niyazmatov) - Vladimir Norov, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, has denied allegations from a number of German charities that, according to a resolution issued by the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers on February 4, as much as forty percent of relief money sent by Germany to the needy of this Central Asian republic will now be taken away by the government in tax revenue.

Under UN Security Council Resolutions 1455 (2003) and 1526, adopted on January 30, 2004, all states and regional organizations shall facilitate the fulfillment of anti-terrorist commitments and take timely steps to guarantee transparency of monetary flows across borders, making sure that national legislation allows the implementation of preventive measures vis-a-vis individuals and organizations involved in terrorism-related activities in areas under their (i.e., states') jurisdiction, Norov said at a press conference in the Justice Ministry Monday.

Speaking of the 40% tax allegedly imposed on relief money, the Uzbek official explained that the governmental resolution German charities had referred to was, in fact, introducing a system of control over incoming monetary aid while exempting recipients of such aid from bank commission payments.